EA and DICE have restructured the pricing system behind its popular free-to-play, casual PC shooter Battlefield: Heroes, much to the dismay of the game’s following.
The restructure effectively means that players will now have to pay real money in order to compete with others players online. Ars Technica explains that previously you could purchase certain items to give yourself an edge, but it was just as easy to earn in-game Valor Points (VP) to purchase these items. It has been suggested by one fan that players would need to participate in around 50 matches per day in order to use VPs to keep the weapon competitive in an online environment.
One theory behind the move is that gamer’s weren’t spending enough real money in the game, choosing instead to buy upgrades to their character via the Valor Point system.
Electronic Arts announced back in September that the free-to-play third-person shooter had two million registered players.
EA or DICE have yet to respond to the backlash.